scarab527

The problem is the NCC has enough of those games to begin with.

Andrean was not going to play Noll this year, regardless of covid. And I am aware Andrean played Hanover those years, and there’s a reason they took them off the schedule. As for going down to Cedartucky, well it’d take a lot more than a basketball game to get me down there.

Exactly. The NCC has huge competitive balance issues in multiple sports, and without addressing these issues, I could see the conference dissolving soon.

Congrats to Hanover on being competitive in a loss to a terrible team. Also, Andrean hasn’t played Noll in football in about 5 years. Hanover beating mediocre basketball programs like Hobart and KV doesn’t impress me either. Andrean is coming off a state run recently and could be gearing up for another, and Munster is one of the best programs in state. If Lowell wants to play their own geographic rival, they can, with one of their non-conference slots. Hobart and Andrean do not want to have to play Hanover in football. I stand by my statement that Hanover would be mediocre in every sport in the NCC, they would not be able to compete with the top teams in each sport.

I stand corrected on Lowell/Morton then, but Andrean and Hobart would benefit from playing them. This move would be about much more than Lowell, I don’t know why you’re so fixated on then. And Hanover beating Munster means nothing, they were one of the worst teams in the entire state. Hanover also lost to an absolutely terrible Portage team this year. They went 9-2 playing an utterly terrible schedule. They would not be able to compete with Andrean, Hobart, or Lowell in football. I doubt they could compete with Munster or Andrean in basketball. They might not be a doormat, but they’d be mediocre at best.

I wouldn’t hold my breath on Highland. That program hasn’t been able to get on the right direction forever it seems like. Shame to see what’s happened to Munster.

Dwenger was 5A the last cycle and got the 2 points necessary to stay up. They will be 5A for this cycle. I saw in the enrollment thread that Valpo is projected to be in 5A for the next cycle, but that could be wrong.

I believe both Dwenger and Valpo will still be in 5A next year.

I still feel like Andrean, Hobart, and Lowell gain enough from their non-conference games that they’d resist an attempt to go to closed, round robin format, even though it would be simpler and reduce travel. In all fairness, most of the posters posting in this thread are Region guys.

Closed conferences are boring.

The original conversation has been sidetracked by this discussion of Lowell playing Hanover, which I’ll still say could get done, Lowell doesn’t have to play Portage, and Hanover has out of conference game slots available, the GSSC is not a closed conference. Also, if I remember right, Lowell only ever plays Morton in the playoffs, which won’t happen now that Morton will be in 5A. I’m sure Lowell would rather play Morton in the regular season than Portage or Griffith. But back to the original conversation, we were talking about the entirety of the NCC and whether the Hammond schools or HC and Wheeler would be a better fit. The NCC is a mid-large school conference of 4/5A teams with P/P Andrean. Hanover and Wheeler are 3 and 2A, respectively. They would be doormats in probably every sport in the NCC. They would never contend in football. Whereas Morton would be a great addition to the conference in football, and they have good girls/boys basketball programs. What Hammond Central’s level of play in sports will be is yet to be seen, but I would find it hard to believe if they weren’t at worst as competitive as Hanover or Wheeler would be. From a size perspective, and very likely a competition perspective, adding the Hammond schools to the NCC makes much more sense than Hanover or Wheeler.

If Lowell’s priority was selling tickets, they’d have already scheduled HC. I guarantee the coaches at Andrean, Hobart, and Lowell would much rather play the Hammond Schools than HC or Wheeler. Not talking about fans, talking about competition.

I’d hate to see Lowell leave the NCC, and honestly I doubt they would. I don’t see them objecting to the Hammond schools joining, especially because they’d likely increase the level of football competition. I doubt anyone would shed a tear if KV left, and them leaving would definitely cut travel. As for EC and West Side, while I think they’d bring some competition into other sports, I don’t think they’d be good enough in football for Andrean, Hobart, and Lowell to want to bring them in. I still feel like the NCC is mainly a football conference, and the conference already has enough the competitive balance issues in that sport, I don’t think it would want to exacerbate that issue. I think EC and West Side joining the GSSC would make a little more sense. Lesser competition in football, good basketball with Noll and Marquette in the conference, seems like a good fit for those two schools.

No way the Hammond schools could bring less than Highland and KV are currently bringing though, right? I’d have to think they’d be competitive in boys/girls basketball and track/cross country as well.

I’ll take the under, looks like 3 would be the realistic number of repeat champions we could see next year. Another interesting question would be a 3.5 O/U on P/P champions for next year. On that one, I think I’d have to take the over.

I’ll agree that Elkhart has lots of upside as a program, but no one has been able to beat the Big Four in the biggest games in the playoffs. That’s not just a Northern Indiana problem. I have my doubts about that changing any time soon either. 6A belongs to those four programs until someone else proves they can knock them off in the biggest moments. And I don’t really see how Hobart’s performance against Roncalli in 4A matters in regards to this either, especially considering Roncalli had also steamrolled Mount Vernon and Mooresville in the two previous weeks. That team was a step above any other 4A team in Indiana. Again, not really solely a Northern Indiana problem. I wouldn’t count on it. I’ve heard rumblings that Logan is transferring back to Illinois for next year as well. It was a very strange year that made for some strange things to happen that I’m skeptical will continue in the future. I also saw in the enrollment thread that Merrillville could possibly be in 5A next year.

While I can’t speak for South Bend, I can tell you that this comment in regards to the Region is completely wrong.

They’ve been very impressive. Not going away lightly.

Touchdown Cathedral, the Irish are pulling away now.

Cathedral scores on a 2nd and 20, 35-21

Zionsville making a game of it, 22-14.

The gap between the MIC and the rest of the state is pretty damn big.

Correct. I must admit it was nice to see good ole Russ get a little of his own medicine.

At this rate it’s looking that way

I’ll take the under, I think they’ll call off the dogs before then.